Gene Simmons: Kiss Have ‘A Few More Years’ Left

Ahead of a Kiss performance at the SSE Hydro in Scotland on Saturday (May 27), Gene Simmons sat down with Glasgow Live and said that when it comes to the future of the band, there's likely only a few years left.

"We're the hardest-working band in show business, I wear over forty pounds of studs and armor and all that stuff, seven-inch platform heels, spit fire and have to fly through the air and do all that stuff," explains Simmons. "If Bono or [Mick] Jagger, who we all love, had to dress up and do what I do, they couldn't last an hour -- they just couldn't. In hindsight, it would have been smarter to be a U2 or The Stones to wear some sneakers and a t-shirt and you're comfortable. No, we had to do it the hard way."

Kiss formed in New York City in 1973 and have been going nonstop in the four decades plus since then. Part of the reason it'll be hard to walk away, according to Simmons, is seeing new generations embracing the band.

“The thing that tugs at my heart is when you see a little kid, 5 years old, sitting on the shoulders of dad, who’s next to his dad, and they’re all wearing Kiss make up," he says. "We have so much fun and that means the fans have so much fun. We have more fun than the Pope - it’s electric church. It’s where people come to forget their problems and the horrible world out there. It’s magic time, and you can’t buy that. It only exists between fans and the band.”

As for how much longer the band can keep going, Simmons says, "We're not gonna be able to do it into our 70s, and I'm 67 now. We'll do it for a few more years, and then when we think it's time to go, we'll go, and we'll do it the right way, with a big party. I'd like to think that we would do something that rocks the planet -- something big and worldwide and maybe free."

Kiss recently had to cancel the Manchester date of their European trek, which had been scheduled to take place in the same arena as the recent terror attack. The tour wraps up tomorrow night in London at the O2 Arena.